Missiles that are deployed are generally of axisymmetric geometry. Various techniques have been devised to provide thrust vectoring capability for these missiles. One is to swivel the nozzle relative to the missile body and thus point thrust in the direction desired. The drawback of this method is that relatively large pieces of equipment have to be moved, requiring large and complex actuating devices, as well as excessive power to move them. Another method employed on conventional bell nozzles is to separate the flow over a portion of the nozzle wall by use of jets. This has the disadvantage that fine adjustments in magnitude of the side thrust are difficult to obtain since the extent of the separation can not be predictably varied with the jet strength. It is an efficient method, however, in applications where on-off thrust vectoring is required rather than controlled variability. Jet vanes at the exit plane of a nozzle have been used in the past to direct the flow in a preferred direction and thus provide thrust vectoring. The erosion performance and survival of these vanes in the high temperature exhaust gas of an advanced, high temperature missile can be a problem, and heavy bell nozzles are required to achieve thrust efficiency.
It is desired to provide a two-dimensional split plug in a generally rectangular jet exhaust gas opening of a missile to define a plug nozzle.
It is desired to provide the two parts of the split-plug with selective independent pivotal movement to positions necessary for thrust vectoring of exhaust gases to accomplish roll or bank and pitch on the missile for maneuvering it in flight.